The containership orderbook has reached a record 13 million TEU, as carriers continue to vie for market share, according to consultancy Linerlytica. The analyst warned in its Market Pulse report that capacity pressure is building. “Over-capacity will soon catch up with the market with over 5 million TEU scheduled to be delivered in 2028 alone,” Linerlytica wrote.

MSC became the first container shipping line to operate a fleet of 1,000 containerships. According to a report by Xinde Marine News, citing Alphaliner data, MSC has significantly extended its lead over second‑ranked Maersk. “The gap between the two companies has widened to more than 2.66 million TEU – a difference even larger than the entire current fleet capacity of Hapag-Lloyd, the world’s fifth-largest liner operator.”

Freight rate indicators continue to reflect the tension between expanding capacity and uneven demand. Last week, the Drewry World Container Index (WCI) recorded a  third consecutive week of decline, which Drewry attributed to overcapacity and softer cargo volumes.

However, the latest WCI assessment released on May 7 showed a 3% week-on-week increase. The analyst said this rise was driven by higher Trans‑Pacific spot rates following the introduction of Emergency Fuel Surcharges and Peak Season Surcharges by carriers. Rates on the Asia–Europe trade lane were largely unchanged.

A similar trend was observed in Asia‑focused benchmarks. According to ShippingWatch, the  Shanghai Containerized Freight Index posted a second consecutive week of gains, moving closer to levels last seen before October 2023.

Source: Linerlytica, splash247, Xinde, Drewry, ShippingWatch